Accidents Happen
by lets-talk-appella
Summary: A different take on the Activities Fair from Beca's freshman year. Or, my submission for Bechloe Week 2018 Day 1 - prompt was "accidental kiss."


**My submission for Bechloe Week Day 1 - Accidental Kiss**

* * *

Beca Mitchell is **not** happy. There are three things contributing to this.

First, there are people everywhere. She hates people. Some guy is even wandering around in a Speedo, which, why is that allowed? No thanks. Stay away.

Second, her dad seems to think it's okay to just burst into her dorm room, so that's awesome. What is that even about? Like, personal space much? Especially when it was all his idea for her to be there in the first place. The least he can do is respect her privacy.

Third, and perhaps the largest source of her unhappiness, is the fact she's even on this stupid campus in the first place. She should be out in LA this very moment, apartment hunting or setting up connections with music producers. She should be working on her career, on her life, instead of stuck at this ridiculous, overcrowded, and super lame activities fair.

Come on. It's college, not middle school, so why is this even a thing? Don't people have to study? Who could possibly have time to run in a circle all day? And for God's sake, why would anyone voluntarily join a Triathlon club? Utter madness.

She scans the booths surrounding her with disinterest, keeping an eye out for anything that might be even remotely music-related. Despite her displeasure at being there, she might as well suck it up and try to find something, anything, that could help boost her cred in LA next year. Because there's no way she's staying in Barden past her first year. She's absolutely certain of that.

She's not expecting to find much in terms of music-related clubs on the relatively small campus. She's not even sure if Barden has a band of any kind. Though, she kind of thinks she may have read a blurb about a couple of competitive show choirs or something in the Barden Buzz (dumb name) campus newsletter her dad had forced into her hand.

So yeah. She's not expecting much at all.

But then, her eyes land on a large green banner proudly displaying 'DJs' and her footsteps stutter in surprise. Okay. It's not ideal, but she can manage with a DJ club. If nothing else, it would at least get her some time at a soundboard and possibly some money if she can do gigs at local bars for the year.

She glances down at the guys running the booth. Even from a distance, she thinks they look out of place, not like what a DJ should be, but whatever. Again, small campus.

Gritting her teeth and forcing herself to just go for it, she moves toward the DJ club table.

* * *

Chloe Beale is **totally** panicking. This is insane. She's not sure where her best friend went, because this uptight, stressed, and strangely nauseated Aubrey Posen next to her is completely different from the kind and stable one she'd last seen before their summer break. She knows what's behind it, of course. Puke-gate had been a major topic of conversation in the a capella world for the past four months, and she knows Aubrey hates herself for it.

And now, Aubrey is a woman possessed. Her obsession with recruiting new Bellas with bikini-ready bodies seems a bit much. Sure, maybe past Bellas had been appealing to both the ears and the eyes, but at this point, Chloe would take anyone who can sing. The Bellas are in serious trouble and they can't afford to be so nit-picky. As long as they have good singers, she'll be happy.

The problem is, no one's stopping to talk to them. She's not sure if it's because of the puke incident or the reputation given to the Bellas by their previous leader, but everyone seems to hate them. Chloe's not used to being hated. She doesn't know what to do about it.

Except, she has to do something soon or the Bellas will be over. That's unacceptable. She met Aubrey through the Bellas and making music is her favorite thing on Earth. The Bellas can't be finished. They need one more chance to win at Nationals to redeem themselves.

She just needs to hand out more flyers, that's all. Someone will join.

When the girl who calls herself Fat Amy stops by to demonstrate her singing, Chloe allows herself to feel the first fluttering of hope. Okay. They got one person to informally audition, and she's a decent singer. They only need seven more. Great. Easy. Simple. Not a problem.

Chloe's panicking again.

That's when something draws her attention to a petite brunette walking away from the Deaf Jews booth, a small frown on her face. Chloe's heart thuds and her breath catches. She immediately registers three things about this girl.

First, she's absolutely stunning, all casual style, dark eyeliner, and tons of ear piercings. Also, boobs. She's certainly turned a few heads, both male and female, but doesn't seem to have noticed any of them.

Second, Chloe immediately picks up on the girl's closed expression and standoffish body language and she wants nothing more than to meet the girl underneath all that. She's sure there's a big softie hidden under there. Now, just to get to her. Chloe's always loved a challenge.

Third, and Chloe can't explain how she knows it, but she can already tell that this girl is going to mean something to her. This girl is important.

Unfortunately, her focus on the mystery girl makes her forget the flyers in her hands. It's a breezy day, and in the instant it takes for her to relax her grip, the wind snatches away the papers, playing with them and sending them cascading down. Her attention breaks from the girl in time to see the dozens of white papers scatter on the ground around her and Aubrey.

With a groan and an apology toward the waspish woman in her best friend's skin, Chloe kneels to collect the flyers from the ground.

* * *

If Beca was unhappy before, it's nothing compared to the irritation she feels now. Deaf Jews. Honestly. They could have advertised that a little better. Or did their being deaf mean they had no sense of banner design? Somehow, she doesn't think so.

The only good thing that had come from it was running into the amusing blonde with an Australian accent. Beca doubts she'll ever see her again, but at least she'd gotten a laugh out of their brief interaction. That had been nice, despite her current annoyance.

Does this campus not have any other music clubs? God. If not, she has no idea how she's going to survive the year. If all she has to look forward to is a rude roommate and meaningless coursework (Philosophy? Really?), she isn't sure she can keep her promise to stay an entire year.

She looks around the activities fair, craning her neck and not watching where she's going as she tries to spot literally any music-related banner. There had to be something. Anything. There just had to be.

She's not looking where she's walking, so she's quite startled to hear a sharp, bossy sort of voice yell right in her ear.

"Hey! Look out for –"

But it's too late; she whips her head around at the sound, only to get a flash of something red and blue and much too close to her before –

* * *

Chloe gathers the papers as quickly as she can, annoyed at herself. She can't believe she allowed some random girl to distract her so badly. Aubrey is going to chew her out for sure. Worse than that, who knows how many potentially good singers had walked by while she had basically groveled on the ground, collecting the pieces of her life.

She finally scoops up the last errant flyer, giving it a firm shake so it knows what it's done. She's unaware of her surroundings as she shoves the paper back in place with the rest of her stack. As a result, Aubrey's sharp voice startles her. Automatically, she straightens (only a figure of speech) to stand, her brain barely registering a whirl of chocolate-colored hair, pale skin, and wide navy eyes before –

* * *

They smash into each other, Chloe rising to meet Beca's advance, the timing, proximity, and height just right for their lips to collide in a completely accidental kiss.

* * *

Beca jerks back almost immediately, heat rushing to her face in embarrassment. Did that really happen? Her mind reels, scrambled, trying to catch up. Did she just smash mouths with a total stranger?

Did she and the beautiful redhead in front of her kiss? And did she just think the word 'beautiful?'

* * *

Chloe doesn't move. She feels as if she's rooted to the ground in shock. It had been like something out of a cliché TV show. She had definitely just kissed the captivating brunette from earlier entirely by accident.

And it had been kind of thrilling, despite how briefly their lips had been in contact.

* * *

A strangled gasp forces its way from Beca's mouth, a hurried and automatic, "I'm so sorry!"

The redhead doesn't reply. She stares at Beca, her eyes a little unfocused. It's unsettling. Beca wonders if perhaps she'd given the girl a concussion.

"Uh." The quiet sound of confusion tears Beca's eyes away from the girl she'd just locked lips with to instead focus on her blonde companion, the one who'd tried telling her to look out. She seems as shocked as Beca feels, which is totally unfair because _excuse me_ , she's the one who kissed a complete stranger.

Beca turns back to stare at the redhead in front of her. A smile spreads over the girl's face, which confuses Beca even more. Surely, she's about to be yelled at for not watching where she was going, or maybe even accused of sexual harassment. But no, this girl actually looks like she's… _okay_ with what happened. Like she thinks the kiss was fine.

Then the girl reaches out. Beca flinches, certain she's about to be shoved away or possibly slapped across the face, but instead, she feels a piece of paper nudge her hand.

"Here," the redhead says simply. "Take this."

As if on autopilot, Beca grabs the flyer without even glancing down at it. She really, really wants to leave. She'd made a fool of herself. Even if the girl doesn't seem upset at all. Even if she'd had amazingly soft lips.

* * *

The brunette takes the flyer, making Chloe's chest inflate with a balloon of happiness. She's not sure why she'd offered a flyer, but she had. It just felt right.

It felt as right as those lips brushing against hers.

* * *

Flyer in hand, Beca turns to leave without another word. The redhead looks completely ecstatic that she'd taken it, her smile widening and her expression turning intense. She definitely glanced down at Beca's lips.

 _What a weirdo,_ thinks Beca as she walks away. She had kissed a total weirdo by accident at the lamest activities fair of all time.

She wants to see her again.

Beca looks down at the flyer in her hand, noting the logo for something called the Barden Bellas. Apparently, it's an all-female a capella group. That's pretty lame. But then again, it is technically music. Auditions are in a couple of weeks. Huh.

The redhead will almost certainly be there.

Maybe Barden isn't all bad.


End file.
